TeenRead Books

06/08/2010

Running with Wolves

One of Grace's first memories as a child is being attacked by a pack of wolves, including one with strange yellow eyes. She survives the attack and feels a strong connection to the yellow-eyed wolf who strays to the the edge of their property and watches her at times. Grace grows up in an astonishingly neglectful family, holding it together by herself, and becoming fiercely protective of wolves in the process. She needs to be because they are being implicated in recent violent attacks, including the death of a Jack Culpeper, a popular but vicious high school student. And then there is Sam, the boy with strangely familiar eyes, who suddenly turns up in the summer and disappears just as quickly in the fall.

Wolf families and human families (and friends) with their frailties and connections are at the core of this story. Drastic steps are taken to ensure the survival of each.

Do you think they are justified?

How would you compare the "wolf" characters in this book with others in recent literature, such as in the Twilight series?

Maggie Stiefvater has an interesting author site for this book, called "The Wolves of Mercy Falls," at http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/shiver/
If you liked "Shiver," there is a follow-up book , called "Linger," coming out on July 20. There are already over 100 holds on it! Do you think Sam and his pack will grow to be as popular as Jacob and the wolf pack from the "Twilight" series?

I loved this book so much! I just finished Linger 2 days ago and that one was super good too! I'm mad though because there is going to be another book but it doesn't come out until July 2011!! Both books were super good and I couldn't put them down. I don't know if Sam and his pack will grow to be as popular as Jacob and his pack since there isn't a movie make of the book. Without a movie it's kind of hard to picture Sam and the others (at least for me) but if they did make it into a movie I think they could grow to be popular.